Tourism vs. Mining: Which Will the Great Lakes Region Choose for its Economic Future?

A small boat navigates Birch Lake. Photo: Greg Seitz

The disaster at Massey’s West Virginia Upper Big Branch mine is an example of unenforced regulations. Reports now show that safety inspectors were not given access to the mines that took the lives of 29 miners when it collapsed last April. Testimony has also revealed that workers were expected to take risks and evade inspections.

Northwest Mining Association’s Laura Skaer defends the state as regulator because they are the stakeholders when it comes to mining, and they should be in control.  “State lawmakers and regulators know their states best, and state regulations enable greater access by communities where mining may occur. Watchdog groups and others may also play a greater role in the development of laws and regulations, and in their enforcement in a way at the state level that could never occur at the federal level.” This did happen in Michigan when environmental activists and British-owned Rio Tinto’s subsidiary Kennecott Eagle were involved in drafting the state’s 2004 sulfide mining law. But today these same activists along with other Upper Peninsula (UP) residents and Native American tribes are fighting mining interests in the courts. They argue that state agents did not apply the new law when issuing a permit to Kennecott to mine for copper and nickel in the UP.

Mining proponents respond that new technologies make mining environmentally safe. “Producing the raw materials needed for today’s society, creating jobs and protecting the environment are not mutually exclusive. Mining is necessary, and can be done responsibly, safely, and for the benefit of people,” Skaer said.

Scientist Ann Maest takes issue with the line of reasoning that new technology takes the harm out of sulfide ore mining. “It is not a panacea,” she says. Residents may not know that a mine had been operated in an area or there was environmental damage after the company has reclaimed it.  But that is only on the surface. “They disrupt the hydrologic regime underground and the groundwater flows differently than it did before. When you raise the pH, you create a different set of problems chemically and water quality-wise. It is better, but they are not going to be able to create a situation where there are no adverse effects to the groundwater and water quality,” she said.

Still, the industry feels they are addressing the problems. A number of the mining corporations that are proposing sulfide mines in the Great Lakes states have voluntarily signed a Statement of Environmental Principles ) in which they commit to making protection of the environment, not just compliance with state laws and regulations, their goal and to using technology that will have a low impact on the environment whenever possible.

All that aside, jobs are most important to the states and residents, and mining promises to bring jobs, pay the states taxes (property and wage), and royalties (where applicable), sales and fuel taxes from each mine and each new job created. Where mines exist, they often build schools and inspire business-to-business activity. Industry can play a pivotal role in these small economies – something for which the Great Lakes region is desperate.

Jeff Gamble, owner of the Big Bay Point Light House B&B, perched on the cliffs of Lake Superior near where the Kennecott Eagle Mine is being built, lauded improvements that the company is bringing to his town of Big Bay.

“Between the new power lines – now I don’t have a power outage every three months – and the new road to Big Bay…They will improve the life quality in Big Bay. Plus they are providing jobs! A substantial number of people are employed out there fulltime …and, of course, the opposition employs people, too. It is improving our economy.”